3D printing is still in its infancy, so I will patent the more old school mobile manufactory. Load up a truck with a bunch of lumber and some carpenters, or a furnace and a glassblower, or an upholsterer. Design and order your furniture and accessories online, and these dedicated craftsmen will make it to spec while they drive to your home for delivery!
They do in Tokyo; I saw a vending machine there dispensing bottles of single malt whisky. The interesting comparison with my own country isn't that they have these and we don't, but that over here such a machine would not make it past the first Friday night before being trashed and robbed.
Start reforming what can be patented. No software patents, and throw out the crap that is obviously not invention but intellectual property land-grabbing.
That is the problem with a lot of these smart watches. The Pebble is awesome in terms of functionality and battery life (well, compared to other smart watches anyway), but it looks like a cheap digital watch from the 70s, and most other smart watches look like crap. There's a couple of ones that look at least halfway decent: the Moto 360 and LG Urbane are round (which I prefer) with a choice of metal bodies and metal or leather straps. I was disappointed by the appearance of the Apple Watch (square, but at least it's their patented rounded square), though the high-end models look like they might be acceptable.
But the real problem is that the expected life of these watches simply isn't that long; technology moves too fast for that. Who would spend a couple of thousand on a premium smart watch in a gold case, if you'll want to replace that watch in a few years' time? It would make sense to commit to a case design for a longer term, and allow owners to swap out the electronics every so often.
These are claims; a judge would require proof of this. The hack and calls will be hard to prove (unless she recorded the calls), but presumably there is proof of the fraudulent purchase. Even so, she'd have to prove that the thieves got the CC details from the St. Joseph leak and not from elsewhere.
However I'd think that the bar for such proof wouldn't be all that high when the judge is merely determining if the plaintiff has standing; that definitive proof should wait until the case is actually tried. Then again I don;t know all that much about how this would work in courts in the US.
You would expect organisations like these to be held to a higher level accountability than us mere mortals, but sadly that is often not the case. Try tell an Internal Revenue inspector: "I am sorry but I have lost those records of my offshore savings account due to pressing a wrong button" and see what answer you get. Hell, as a kid I never got away with "the dog ate my homework". Yet what consequences will follow from losing hundreds of important police records during an investigation into police conduct?
If any one person, under orders, acting on their own initiative or simply making a mistake, is capable of irrevocably wiping important records like these, then there is something seriously wrong with your organisation. Someone is responsible for managing IT and keeping information/records at the police, start with them.
Also, the quoted number of drinks needed to put you in the danger zone (1 drink = 0.05%) doesn't match those found in other studies. In the Netherlands, the traffic bureau advises as a rule of thumb that 2 drinks put you near that limit (which is the legal limit here). Of course they mention that it's an average that can vary wildly, and that it's better to drink nothing at all before driving, but in general the 2 drink rule seems to work fine for most adults.
Did they compare test scores between kids using only the software, and kids using nothing at all (no teachers / classrooms)? Or did they test how well kids from illiterate families did in their first few years in school, comparing those having used educational software against those without? Because that's what we're talking about here.
Besides, one of the tested products apparently did have a significant impact on test scores, showing that computers can be effective as a supplement to regular education as well. I agree that there's a lot of rubbish educational software out there, but not all of it is.
Most tests (from manufacturers as well as consumer advocate groups) seem to indicate 10 years of service or about 3000 runs on average, with a few top brands consistently scoring 1.5 - 2x as good (5000 runs). This is for front loaders, mind; perhaps the numbers are different for top loaders (top loaders are virtually nonexistent here).
Every brand will have their good and bad models. My first combi oven was a Whirlpool and I was rather pleased with it: quiet, reliable and extremely intuitive to use. So when I moved house I got the latest model Whirlpool oven... and found it to be poorly built with an insane user interface.
The one brand I'd recommend (for dishwashers and washing machines) without hesitation is Miele. Expensive but built like a rock, they ought to last you a good 15-20 years (my parents replaced one after 28 years, during 15 of which it had run a load a day).
In Russia I can believe it, but things there aren't always what they seem. I remember seeing a picture of a shopkeeper lady surrounded by guys in body armor, ski masks and carrying automatic weapons. Looked like a serious robbery, but the caption below read: "tax inspectors check the books in a shop on famous Arbat street.
A lot of cases where drones are being used commercially (aerial photography / site surveys / inspection of industrial installations) can still be done within the line-of-sight restriction. Because the operator still enjoys the other major aspects of drones: stable flight characteristics, and a telemetry+video downlink. I'm not a ig fan of regulations, but in this case I understand why they take a conservative stance for now.
There is plenty of evidence that computer programs can effectively teach basic math and language skills, and that they are good for rote learning of various subjects. Are they better than a teacher or parent? They are better than no teacher or parent. And in addition to special teaching programs (which have limited application), computers can bring traditional learning materials to student at a much lower cost. If there is a shortage of teachers or if there aren't any in some remote area, kids can be taught in a MOOC or virtual classroom. Not as effective as small local classes, but better than none at all.
The question is not whether computers can improve education in underdeveloped countries; they can. The real question is how to apply computers in this (varied) environment so that they actually are effective... or whether it would be more cost-effective to spend the money on teachers.
Computers did not teach you anyything, because you had a school with teachers and good learning materials (and probably well educated parents too) to learn from. Kids in underdeveloped countries often lack some of these, but they do (or will soon have) access to connected smart phones as that kind of tech is making its way into those markets. This will give kids access to teachers and books at the very least, and software can provide additional education. Software aimed at basic math and language is shown to be plenty effective.
"accomplishments"??? He was at the right time at the right place
Most of us have good ideas from time to time, and frequently at a time when conditions are favourable. What matters is what you do with that opportunity. First you have to recognize that the time and market are right for your idea, or you have to be willing to take a gamble on that. Next you need to organize capital and people to make it happen. That is where the accomplishment is.
Trickle-down works in economics as well, just not the way the likes of Bush promoted it. What is good for the super-rich is not necessarily good for the rest of us (usually it isn't), but a strong middle class has a positive impact on the lower class. Middle class wealth most certainly trickles down.
That's just it. I'm not surprised that opinions and discussions on the Internet are of poor quality. What surprised me at some point is that the quality of those in the press and in politics aren't *that* much better if you look a little closer.
Coding is actually a good way to teach some of those skills. Especially a skill not mentioned in that list: troubleshooting. The good troubleshooters and problem solvers in my professional circle, whether they are managers, business analysts, project managers, consultants, or IT support staff, are almost always people who have done a bit of coding at some point in their life. Coding appears to be a great way to impart those skills even on people who will not be coding professionally, ever.
The real question is: can we fit a meaningful coding class into the high school curriculum? The coding classes I've seen so far have been given as part of math class, or consisted of a lame 3rd year high school course that lasted all of one semester. I'd say a real coding class is an hour or two a week over at least one year, preferably two. And why not? Hell, I was forced to take German and French for 2 years before I was allowed to drop it, so why not coding? (By the way: language class is useful as are coding classes, but for different reasons. I did get some benefit from them).
Slashdot Mirror
10 Sin
20 Goto hell
According to the Good Book 3.0
3D printing is still in its infancy, so I will patent the more old school mobile manufactory. Load up a truck with a bunch of lumber and some carpenters, or a furnace and a glassblower, or an upholsterer. Design and order your furniture and accessories online, and these dedicated craftsmen will make it to spec while they drive to your home for delivery!
They do in Tokyo; I saw a vending machine there dispensing bottles of single malt whisky. The interesting comparison with my own country isn't that they have these and we don't, but that over here such a machine would not make it past the first Friday night before being trashed and robbed.
Start reforming what can be patented. No software patents, and throw out the crap that is obviously not invention but intellectual property land-grabbing.
That is the problem with a lot of these smart watches. The Pebble is awesome in terms of functionality and battery life (well, compared to other smart watches anyway), but it looks like a cheap digital watch from the 70s, and most other smart watches look like crap. There's a couple of ones that look at least halfway decent: the Moto 360 and LG Urbane are round (which I prefer) with a choice of metal bodies and metal or leather straps. I was disappointed by the appearance of the Apple Watch (square, but at least it's their patented rounded square), though the high-end models look like they might be acceptable.
But the real problem is that the expected life of these watches simply isn't that long; technology moves too fast for that. Who would spend a couple of thousand on a premium smart watch in a gold case, if you'll want to replace that watch in a few years' time? It would make sense to commit to a case design for a longer term, and allow owners to swap out the electronics every so often.
Try strapping your watch on your right wrist (if you're right handed), and you'll understand why we carry them on our left wrists.
FTFM (Fixed that for myself)
Try strapping your watch on your right wrist (if you're left handed), and you'll understand why we carry them on our left wrists.
Meh. Each killbot comes with a preset kill limit. The tactic is to send wave after wave of men against them until they shut down.
[anyoldlameexcuse] will void the warranty if they can get away with it.
These are claims; a judge would require proof of this. The hack and calls will be hard to prove (unless she recorded the calls), but presumably there is proof of the fraudulent purchase. Even so, she'd have to prove that the thieves got the CC details from the St. Joseph leak and not from elsewhere.
However I'd think that the bar for such proof wouldn't be all that high when the judge is merely determining if the plaintiff has standing; that definitive proof should wait until the case is actually tried. Then again I don;t know all that much about how this would work in courts in the US.
You would expect organisations like these to be held to a higher level accountability than us mere mortals, but sadly that is often not the case. Try tell an Internal Revenue inspector: "I am sorry but I have lost those records of my offshore savings account due to pressing a wrong button" and see what answer you get. Hell, as a kid I never got away with "the dog ate my homework". Yet what consequences will follow from losing hundreds of important police records during an investigation into police conduct?
If any one person, under orders, acting on their own initiative or simply making a mistake, is capable of irrevocably wiping important records like these, then there is something seriously wrong with your organisation. Someone is responsible for managing IT and keeping information/records at the police, start with them.
It's just the first step in defeating anti-surveillance measures taken by terrorists.
Also, the quoted number of drinks needed to put you in the danger zone (1 drink = 0.05%) doesn't match those found in other studies. In the Netherlands, the traffic bureau advises as a rule of thumb that 2 drinks put you near that limit (which is the legal limit here). Of course they mention that it's an average that can vary wildly, and that it's better to drink nothing at all before driving, but in general the 2 drink rule seems to work fine for most adults.
Here is an article with plenty of references, though this guy focuses more on computers as a teaching aid.
Did they compare test scores between kids using only the software, and kids using nothing at all (no teachers / classrooms)? Or did they test how well kids from illiterate families did in their first few years in school, comparing those having used educational software against those without? Because that's what we're talking about here.
Besides, one of the tested products apparently did have a significant impact on test scores, showing that computers can be effective as a supplement to regular education as well. I agree that there's a lot of rubbish educational software out there, but not all of it is.
Most tests (from manufacturers as well as consumer advocate groups) seem to indicate 10 years of service or about 3000 runs on average, with a few top brands consistently scoring 1.5 - 2x as good (5000 runs). This is for front loaders, mind; perhaps the numbers are different for top loaders (top loaders are virtually nonexistent here).
Every brand will have their good and bad models. My first combi oven was a Whirlpool and I was rather pleased with it: quiet, reliable and extremely intuitive to use. So when I moved house I got the latest model Whirlpool oven... and found it to be poorly built with an insane user interface.
The one brand I'd recommend (for dishwashers and washing machines) without hesitation is Miele. Expensive but built like a rock, they ought to last you a good 15-20 years (my parents replaced one after 28 years, during 15 of which it had run a load a day).
In Russia I can believe it, but things there aren't always what they seem. I remember seeing a picture of a shopkeeper lady surrounded by guys in body armor, ski masks and carrying automatic weapons. Looked like a serious robbery, but the caption below read: "tax inspectors check the books in a shop on famous Arbat street.
A lot of cases where drones are being used commercially (aerial photography / site surveys / inspection of industrial installations) can still be done within the line-of-sight restriction. Because the operator still enjoys the other major aspects of drones: stable flight characteristics, and a telemetry+video downlink. I'm not a ig fan of regulations, but in this case I understand why they take a conservative stance for now.
There is plenty of evidence that computer programs can effectively teach basic math and language skills, and that they are good for rote learning of various subjects. Are they better than a teacher or parent? They are better than no teacher or parent. And in addition to special teaching programs (which have limited application), computers can bring traditional learning materials to student at a much lower cost. If there is a shortage of teachers or if there aren't any in some remote area, kids can be taught in a MOOC or virtual classroom. Not as effective as small local classes, but better than none at all.
The question is not whether computers can improve education in underdeveloped countries; they can. The real question is how to apply computers in this (varied) environment so that they actually are effective... or whether it would be more cost-effective to spend the money on teachers.
Computers did not teach you anyything, because you had a school with teachers and good learning materials (and probably well educated parents too) to learn from. Kids in underdeveloped countries often lack some of these, but they do (or will soon have) access to connected smart phones as that kind of tech is making its way into those markets. This will give kids access to teachers and books at the very least, and software can provide additional education. Software aimed at basic math and language is shown to be plenty effective.
"accomplishments"??? He was at the right time at the right place
Most of us have good ideas from time to time, and frequently at a time when conditions are favourable. What matters is what you do with that opportunity. First you have to recognize that the time and market are right for your idea, or you have to be willing to take a gamble on that. Next you need to organize capital and people to make it happen. That is where the accomplishment is.
Trickle-down works in economics as well, just not the way the likes of Bush promoted it. What is good for the super-rich is not necessarily good for the rest of us (usually it isn't), but a strong middle class has a positive impact on the lower class. Middle class wealth most certainly trickles down.
That's just it. I'm not surprised that opinions and discussions on the Internet are of poor quality. What surprised me at some point is that the quality of those in the press and in politics aren't *that* much better if you look a little closer.
Coding is actually a good way to teach some of those skills. Especially a skill not mentioned in that list: troubleshooting. The good troubleshooters and problem solvers in my professional circle, whether they are managers, business analysts, project managers, consultants, or IT support staff, are almost always people who have done a bit of coding at some point in their life. Coding appears to be a great way to impart those skills even on people who will not be coding professionally, ever.
The real question is: can we fit a meaningful coding class into the high school curriculum? The coding classes I've seen so far have been given as part of math class, or consisted of a lame 3rd year high school course that lasted all of one semester. I'd say a real coding class is an hour or two a week over at least one year, preferably two. And why not? Hell, I was forced to take German and French for 2 years before I was allowed to drop it, so why not coding? (By the way: language class is useful as are coding classes, but for different reasons. I did get some benefit from them).